“After that, Ovechkin pouted,” Wharnsby wrote. “He scored only three times in the next 12 games and the Capitals record was a poor 3-7-1. Boudreau had lost his team. He no longer had the support from the Capitals ownership nor general manager George McPhee.”

McPhee had to know his star player couldn’t languish 38th in goalscoring (tied with Travis Moen!) much longer, or continue to score at a 63-point pace. McPhee can say the coaching change wasn’t about Ovechkin…but it was about Ovechkin.

2nd Dud: Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes captain

Key stat: One coach fired (possibly).

If you’re looking for reasons why Paul Maurice is unemployed, look no further than Staal. He’s on pace for jaw-droppingly bad statistics; at this rate he’ll finish with 16 goals and 30 points and somewhere in the neighborhood of a minus-237 rating. (Estimating.)

Maurice tried everything short of Tony Robbins tapes to motivate his captain. He shifted linemates, he changed assignments, he even moved Staal to the wing — but nothing worked. It’s believed Staal’s issues are between the ears as opposed to a physical ailment (speculation is that concussed his brother, Marc, weighs on him still) so in that light, it’s tough to blame Maurice entirely.

But he’s the one that lost his job.

3rd Dud: Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks captain

Key stat: One coach fired (impending?)

Next on the coaching hot seat is Anaheim’s Randy Carlyle. With his team at 6-13-4 and just one point up on last-place Columbus, he needs someone to step up and right the ship — which you’d think would be his captain.

Now is when the Ducks need Getzlaf to prove that the “C” on his jersey has been earned, not just awarded.

The last time he experienced something comparable to this, no one was leaning on him for direction. Now, each of Getzlaf’s teammates is looking his way – and the image they’ve seen hasn’t always been that of a leader.

It was Getzlaf who Friday lost the puck behind his own net, leading to what became the Blackhawks’ tying goal in the third period.

That was the misplay that prompted him to kill an otherwise innocent hockey stick.

“With Getzy, he’s trying to wear the weight of that captaincy,” Carlyle told the Register. “These are the times when it becomes very, very heavy.”

The burden of losing games and potentially costing coach his job? Yeah, that’s fairly heavy.

New York Islanders forward Josh Ho-Sang provided an interesting take to Newsday’s Arthur Staple, and also reminded observes that, as an international sport, the NHL features some players who might not feel as invested in (or at least as informed about) these debates.

“I think what the NFL players are doing is amazing. It’s good that they’re all sticking together,” Ho-Sang said on Monday. “I mean, I’m Canadian, so I don’t have too much input on the matter itself. It will affect me living in the States, but the biggest thing is it’s unfortunate that the message may have gotten lost a little. Now it’s becoming a battle between the NFL and the president and originally [the protests] started because of police brutality and the mistreatment of different races.”

“Protecting the First Amendment is a huge thing,” Okposo said. “I’m a proud American, and I’m proud to be from the United States. Myself personally, I wouldn’t kneel for an anthem, but I respect those that do.”

***

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the current political climate affect NHL players or people they know.

Players in plenty of sports are navigating tough questions this week. It’s important to remember that athletes can find themselves in tough spots when addressing topics that can be polarizing and/or complex.

Can't imagine being 20 years old, talking to a pack of reporters about controversial protests, knowing that any misstep releases the hounds.

With the regular season about to kick into gear on Oct. 4, it’s certain that there will be more eyes on anthems than ever before. The insights in this post should be useful, whether NHL players kneel, sit, speak, or decide to stick to hockey.

The key: after only being able to study brains of deceased athletes, there’s a chance that living athletes with CTE might eventually be identified.

On face value, that’s great news for player health. Hockey, like other contact sports such as football, is no stranger to careers and lives being derailed by brain injuries.

Of course, the NHL and NHLPA would need to cooperate to make the most of potential progress. If you’ve watched hockey long enough, particularly postseason hockey, you know that certain protocols can stand as great concepts met with hesitant execution.

Westhead expounds on such thoughts, and some of his findings aren’t very pretty.

Players might be hesitant to take such tests if it means that they’ll miss playing time (or even see their careers end). It brings back memories of Peyton Manning willfully sandbagging his baseline concussion test. For better or worse, these guys want to play.

NHL player agent: “If I asked 30 of my players if they would take a test to tell them if they have CTE, I think zero would be interested."

Of course, it’s crucial to realize that potential breakthroughs from this study could take quite some time to trickle into functional practices, even if leagues and players end up being more willing to comply than expected.

Overall, this is promising news. Hopefully such changes could help athletes during their careers and into retirement.

Sprong, 20, was the 46th pick of the 2015 NHL Draft. He’s been generating solid numbers at the OHL, so it will be interesting to see how he converts that to AHL work. Sprong played 18 regular-season games for the Penguins back in 2015-16, notching two goals.

There are some bullet points that can sell Nolan, but the 28-year-old’s production was quite limited at the NHL level. Nolan’s never scored 10 goals in a single season; in fact, he’s only reached 10 points once in his career (six goals and four assists in 64 regular-season contests back in 2013-14).

Overall, it wouldn’t be surprising if a team targeted Nolan as a depth guy, even if his ceiling is limited.

While the Penguins’ entries seem notable for sheer volume as much as anything else, Frank Corrado is another name that stands out.

Corrado was often the catalyst for debates about his playing time (or lack thereof) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it doesn’t seem like the defenseman is having much success catching on with the Penguins, either.

Zatkoff, meanwhile, fits in with quite a few other names on this list: possibly prominent in the AHL, only likely to get the occasional cup of coffee in the NHL, at this point.